Demand transparency from governments

The leak of the so-called "Palestine Papers" should have been a
major topic of conversation in the United States, based on the
information those papers contained. For some strange reason, it
seems the leak has gone relatively unnoticed in the States. These
papers are yet another strong piece of evidence in favor of
increased transparency in government.

Anyone who has been following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
has heard the same story — that Palestine has been actively
refusing compromise and that the United States and Israel, despite
their best efforts, cannot make Palestine budge. According to the
leaked documents, this is far from the case. In reality, it seems
that the roles are actually reversed. Palestine has offered to make
numerous massive concessions, and the United States and Israel have
rejected them all. One of the more notable compromises Palestine
has offered is limiting the number of refugees allowed to return to
their old homeland to 100,000 refugees over a 10-year period — out
of roughly three million people claiming refugee rights. Another
striking concession — also rejected — was Palestine's agreement to
relinquish their claims to the Jewish and Armenian quarters in
Jerusalem.

Palestine offered other concessions as well, all of which were
just as surprising given the story the public hears over and over
again, and all of which were also rejected. It is clear that,
according to the "Palestine Papers," the United States is firmly
rooted on Israel's side of the negotiations, and both the United
States and Israel are far less willing to compromise than Palestine
in this situation.

The fact that these papers tells a different story than the one
that many people have heard throughout the years is a bit
disconcerting. Unsurprisingly, the documents have caused uproar in
Palestine, as many citizens feel betrayed by their government. In a
sense — though definitely not to the same extent — the government
has misled the American citizens. There should never be a reason
for a government to lie to its citizens. But, sadly, that tends to
happen rather often. The leak of these papers demonstrates that
governing bodies need to be more transparent with those they are
governing, no matter what.

Sure, the revelations in the papers were not earth-shattering —
surprising, but not earth-shattering. Still, regardless of the
magnitude, there is a message in all of this — don't tell your
citizens one thing if you are just going to go out and do the
opposite.